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About the Sennheiser HD 820

by Crutchfield's

Meet Jeff Miller

In danger of being trapped under the growing pile of headphones on my desk.

How did I earn the nickname "headphone guy" here at Crutchfield? Through extensive training, research, and good old-fashioned hands-on experience. I've spent thousands of hours listening to different models, and thousands more writing about them. My other areas of expertise include voice control, streaming audio and video, and power protection.

My love of headphones started back when I was in elementary school, and my parents gave me a Walkman. I still love the intimate, wonderfully detailed sound you can get from the right headphone setup.

I spent the first eight years of my Crutchfield career in our customer support department. Listening to thousands of customer stories gave me real-world insights into what makes people happy.

About Jeff

Started at Crutchfield in 2006

Completed our thorough in-house Advisor training, learning the details of every type of product we sell

Attends dozens of vendor training events each year

Travels to industry events like CanJam NYC and the Capital AudioFest

Interviewed some of the headphone industry's most accomplished engineers and product designers

Authored dozens of Crutchfield articles and hundreds of product presentations

Jeff's passion for headphones and his commitment to hands-on experience exemplify Crutchfield's mission to exceed our customers' expectations by providing an abundance of helpful information.

Sennheiser's top-of-the-line sealed headphones

When I found out Sennheiser was set to debut their new HD 820 headphones at the 2018 CES, I immediately sent an email to our video team. Our crew was already on the scene in Vegas, so I had to get their first-hand impression of these special 'phones. This is the first sealed-back model in Sennheiser's stellar HD 800 series, and the company has gone all out. The earcups are sealed with concave, heavy-duty glass covers that show off the drivers and help absorb unwanted vibrations.

The HD 820 headphones perform their best when driven by a powerful headphone amp like the Sennheiser HDV 820.

Sennheiser's top-of-the-line sealed headphones

When I found out Sennheiser was set to debut their new HD 820 headphones at the 2018 CES, I immediately sent an email to our video team. Our crew was already on the scene in Vegas, so I had to get their first-hand impression of these special 'phones. This is the first sealed-back model in Sennheiser's stellar HD 800 series, and the company has gone all out. The earcups are sealed with concave, heavy-duty glass covers that show off the drivers and help absorb unwanted vibrations.

The result? Transparent, spacious sound like you'd expect from an open-back headphone, but with the insulated listening experience of a closed-back design. You can check out a video of my buddy JR's full reaction in the photo carousel above. He told me he was super-impressed with the musical detail he could pick out — especially with all the hustle and bustle of CES around him.

Jeff Miller: How and why did you land on Gorilla Glass for the HD 820s?

Axel Grell: We wanted to make a closed headphone that sounded as open as possible. So initially, we just used the HD 800 S and put a [flat, plastic] cover around it. That didn't work as well as I thought it would. So we said, “OK, the back is not good when it's flat — it needs to be concave.”

And the plastic was not stiff enough, so there were resonances. It vibrated at certain frequencies. We were looking for a stiffer material that was also lightweight.

Gorilla Glass is VERY stiff, lightweight, and it's transparent. I want to show off those transducers!

Several ways to connect

When these headphones are released later this year, they will be one of the first to use a 4.4mm balanced headphone plug. This is the new industry standard connection for balanced headphone operation, and it promises to cut down on signal noise and distortion. At CES, Sennheiser powered these 'phones with the Sennheiser HDV 820 headphone amp via this connection.

These two "820" devices — headphone and amp — were designed together in Sennheiser's German headquarters, so they pair up perfectly. Sennheiser includes another cable with an unbalanced 1/4" headphone plug. There's even a miniplug adapter included — although I wouldn't recommend trying to drive this thoroughbred with your smartphone!

Fit FactorsSM

Fit FactorsSM

Comfort is an often overlooked — but extremely important — factor when it comes to headphones. How your headphones fit and feel plays a big part in how much you'll enjoy them.

We tested and scored several headphones to give you a better idea about fit and wearability before you buy.

How the Sennheiser HD 820's measure up

Here are our main takeaways for these headphones, including key measurements and how they stack up with the other over-ear headphones we tested.

Overall comfort

UncomfortableComfortableVery comfortable

Security & stability

Very looseStays put

Highlights

Large, heavy

Relaxed fit

Roomy earcups

Recommended for

Focused listening

Studio (mixing and mastering)

Data is based on 50 headphones, tested by 20 Crutchfield employees

Specs

Weight

18.1 oz

4.9 oz25.7 oz

Earcup width

4.3 in

2.7 in4.4 in

Earcup height

4.9 in

1.7 in5.1 in

How did we test comfort?

We invited a group of 20 Crutchfield employees to try on a selection of 50 over-ear headphones and grade them on fit and comfort. See all headphones we tested.

How did we grade these headphones?

Our participants rated each set of headphones by assigning a separate score for five different fit and comfort elements, or "Fit Factors": (1) ear pad softness; (2) headband softness; (3) clamping pressure; (4) perceived weight; and (5) how secure and stable they stayed during head movement.

Product Research

Features

Overview: The Sennheiser HD 820 is the new benchmark for
closed-back wired headphones. The German-made headphones come with two 3 meter cables, including
a balanced cable for use with headphone amplifiers. The headphones and cables can be stored in
the elegant, padded wooden box.

Closed Design: The HD 820
circum-aural (over-the-ear) headphones feature a closed
design to isolate ambient noise, but still deliver a wide open sound field. With
the help of the soft, hand-crafted microfiber ear pads, the headphones realize
an attenuation of up to 25dB of outside noise, allowing you to listen to your
music without distraction.

Transducers: The HD 820 utilizes large 56mm (2.2") ring
radiator transducers, some of the largest available in a closed-back headphone.
The drivers ensure ultra-low bass reproduction, as well as clear mids and highs.

Acoustic Diffraction Housing: The Sennheiser HD 820s feature
a patent-pending acoustic diffraction housing to deliver a spatial and airy
sound reproduction, as well as isolate external noise and sound leaking from the
inside. The convex Gorilla Glass panes reflect the sound waves from the rear of
the transducers into an absorber chamber to dampen and eliminate internal
reflections.

Headphone Cables: The HD 820 comes with two
interchangeable headphone cables, including one with balanced connections. The
silver-clad OFC cables split a short distance from the
headphones, and plug into each ear cup with a special, high precision ODU
circular connector. The unbalanced cable is terminated with a standard,
heavy-duty 1/4" plug. The balanced cable has the 4.4mm Pentaconn
connector used in newer DACs and headphone amps. All cables feature a nylon outer covering that quiets contact noise from the cable.

Storage Box: The HD 820 has a sturdy, hinged wooden box with
cut-out foam padding for storage of your headphones and cables.

SpeakerCompare tailors your listening experience to the exact headphones you have, so that what you hear is comparable to auditioning speakers side-by-side in person. Knowing which model headphones you’re using lets us remove any sonic coloring from your experience.

In an actual listening room, you'd find that some speakers play louder than others when fed the same amount of power. In equal power mode, you'll hear these differences in loudness as they naturally occur between speakers.
In equal volume mode, we've made the loudness of each speaker about the same. This gives you a more direct comparison of subtle voicing differences between speakers.

SpeakerCompare gives you a sense of the sonic differences. But performance in the real world is affected by the acoustics of your car or home, your choice of amplification, and your source material. We still believe that the gold standard for auditioning speakers is hearing them in your own environment — that’s why we offer a 60-day money-back guarantee.

For free personalized advice, call 1-888-291-8923. Our Advisors have listened to most of the speakers we carry, and can help you make the best choice for your system.

Our Listening Kit

To help you choose the right speakers, we recommend using Crutchfield’s SpeakerCompare Listening Kit. It includes a pair of studio-quality headphones, a combination DAC (digital-to-analog converter) and headphone amp, USB mobile adapters, and a guide to getting the most out of your session. We’ve carefully chosen the components of this kit to ensure a crystal-clear listening experience. It’s available for a nominal rental fee, and includes a $25 Crutchfield merchandise credit.

Important message! We've tailored the listening experience for specific headphone models, so that you can accurately hear the differences between selected speakers. Our headphone testing and research is ongoing, so if your headphones are not currently selectable, please use the link above to request our Listening Kit.